


A Dollar a Day

by TN_Night



Series: #EreriWeek2015 [1]
Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Coffee Shops, Ereri Week, Gonna leave some things out 'cause I don't wanna spoil it, M/M, Musicians, Pining
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-06-02
Updated: 2015-06-02
Packaged: 2018-04-02 11:27:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,411
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4058299
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TN_Night/pseuds/TN_Night
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Eren is a street musician with a favourite regular that seems to favour him as well. </p><p> </p><p>Part of Ereri Week 2015, day 1: Pining.</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Dollar a Day

**Author's Note:**

> Forgot to write this so this is a bit rushed, I'll try harder next time! Anyway, enjoy~

 

 

Eren sat on the street corner overlooking the busy city streets. He watched the cars speed buy when they could, or honk when the traffic got too bad; he watched the hurrying men and women in suits rush to their all-too-important office jobs; he watched the couples walk hand-in-hand to restaurants and parks– it was congested and fast, but that's how he liked it.

 

 

He liked to watch bits and pieces of other people's lives go by, that's why he played his guitar on the streets. It wasn't necessarily for the money, it was more to see and experience life in a different way. 

 

 

Though he did appreciate the funds he made from the sorta-part-time-job he had going on, he appreciated the people who listened to him more. There was an old couple who'd stick around a bit whenever they'd happen to pass by, a man and his daughter who'd listen to him sometimes when the girl was on her way back from school, and, Eren's particular favourite regular, a jogger, who'd pass him every morning and stay for one song before getting back to his workout, throwing a dollar into his case each time he did. 

 

 

It became routine, he would setup and start playing at nine am, and the man would jog by at around nine thirty, listen to him before throwing a dollar into his guitar case, and go back to running. It'd been going on for a little over a year now and there was a sort of repetitiveness to it that Eren quite liked, and he had a feeling that the other male did as well. 

 

 

The repetitiveness of the thing they had was nice, but Eren wanted…more out of it. 

 

 

He found that over time he'd just be waiting for the man to come by, and he'd always be slightly disappointed when he left. He wanted to meet this man, get to know him better– and even though their only personal exchanges in the past had ever been "Thank you!" and/or a curt not of the head, he still longed to know the stranger, because to him, this man wasn't a stranger. 

 

 

The day started off completely normally; he set up at the usual time, and the people that walked by payed him either a bit of attention or no attention at all, Eren didn't care. He was waiting for a certain regular.

 

 

The man arrived at about quarter to ten wearing a black hoodie and light grey sweatpants, he was still panting slightly from his run, but his face showed no signs of tiredness. He slowed in front of the very small usual crowd that'd gathered around the guitar player, walking towards Eren's direct line of sight and stopping. He listened to his typical one song as per usual, but this time, after he threw his daily-dollar in, he stayed– for much longer than he usually did anyway. While he didn't seem very interested in the music, the man still loitered around with the handful of other people interested in killing time listening to a street performer. 

 

 

He stared, practically mesmerized by the brunet's hands, watching them travel along the neck of the guitar, always switching into new positions, his other hand flying up and down in a rhythmic pattern as he strummed against the strings. 

 

 

But when he finished playing, the mystery man was off again, walking away from him briskly once more. 

 

 

However, this time, Eren wouldn't settle for that. He needed to know this man, it'd been long enough. 

 

 

"Um, excuse me, sir!" He tried, his voice drowned out by the sounds of the city.

 

 

He got up from his seat on the ground, bringing his old guitar with him as he weaved through the web of people  who in turn wound around him. He'd tried calling the man a few more times, but all he got were a few strange stares from people around him.

 

 

When he finally caught up to him he decided that if he wanted to get this man's attention he'd have to force him to give it over.

 

 

The brunet put his hand on the other man's shoulder, obviously startling him as he whipped around to face him. Once the other man saw who'd followed him, Eren noticed his eyes softened a little, but his passive and slightly pissed off facial expression didn't change otherwise. He just stared at Eren expectingly, waiting for him to say something, he supposed he should've thought the idea through a little bit more before rushing over to stop the other man. 

 

 

Instead he just said the first thing that came to mind, "Coffee?"

 

 

When the other scrunched up his face in confusion, Eren just figured it was too loud outside to hear him. After all, he was practically whispering out of nervousness.

 

 

His eyes skimmed over the abundance of shops on their street and his eyes landed on a small café shop near some houses down the road. When he pointed to the place, the man's eyes followed his finger, when they landed on the shop, he nodded in understanding. Glancing at his watch he held up one finger and pulled out a cellphone, to text his work place saying he'd be late or something, Eren assumed. 

 

 

When he put his phone away he and Eren ran across the busy street, avoided getting hit, and walked into the café.

 

 

<.<.<.<.<.<.<.

 

 

The shop was quaint and quiet, a few people were sitting around on red leather chairs and couches that went well with the deep brown of the counters, tables, and walls. The dark haired man went to sit down as soon as they walked in, whereas Eren ordered himself tea. When he got his order he saw that the other had already found them a table, so he sat across from him, placing the tea in the centre of the table. 

 

 

"So, uh…what's your name?" Eren asked a little slowly, tentatively; noting how the man only stared at his lips when he spoke.

 

 

"Levi," he responded. His voice was deep– low and soothing. 

 

 

"Nice to meet you, my name's Eren," he smiled, a bit more relaxed this time, though his face fell a little when he saw Levi's slightly confused expression again, "Is something wrong?"

 

 

"You're talking too fast," he said, a hint of a lisp evident in his voice. He looked down at the other side of the table.

 

 

"Sorry, is English not your first language…?" 

 

 

The raven looked back at him expectingly, as if waiting for him to respond. Eren looked at him the same way.

 

 

"Did you say something?"

 

 

Eren stared at him confused for a moment before answering, "Yes…?"

 

 

Levi just looked slightly exasperated, "I can't hear you, at least wait until I look at yo-"

 

 

"What do you mean you can't hear me?" The brunet interrupted, confused and still speaking a little fast, but the puzzlement on his face spoke the question for him.

 

 

"I'm deaf," he said, stating it like it was extremely obvious but then realizing that it probably wasn't. 

 

 

Neither of them spoke for a minute after the words hit the air, Levi waited and Eren processed the new information.

 

 

After a bit of contemplation, Eren pulled out his phone, typing out a sentence in a notes app before handing the device over to Levi.

 

 

It read, _'Why did you stay and give me money everyday if you couldn't even hear what I played?'_

 

 

Levi looked a bit flustered at the question, taking in breath to explain himself but in the end just deciding to type out a response.

 

 

 _'You looked like a good performer.'_ Was all he wrote. 

 

 

But before Eren could type out another question, Levi took the phone back.

 

 

_'And I wanted an excuse to be closer to you, I just couldn't figure out how to talk to you.'_

 

 

Now the brunet was flustered. He'd been wanting to meet him too then…? They both stared down at the table for a few seconds before the younger man typed out, _'Do you….wanna get coffee sometime?'_

 

 

Levi read it over and laughed, "We're having coffee right now, brat."

 

 

He blushed and grabbed his tea, taking a sip and putting it back on the table before grabbing his phone back, _'This is tea.'_

 

 

As soon as Levi read the message he grabbed the cup from the centre, taking a sip and sighing in contentment, "Good, I like tea better."

 

 

 

 

 


End file.
